Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

UIKit VS Semantic UI

Compare UIKit VS Semantic UI and see what are their differences

UIKit logo UIKit

A lightweight and modular front-end framework for developing fast and powerful web interfaces

Semantic UI logo Semantic UI

A UI Component library implemented using a set of specifications designed around natural language
  • UIKit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-24
  • Semantic UI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-20

UIKit features and specs

  • Modularity
    UIKit is highly modular, allowing developers to include only the components they need. This can lead to more efficient and faster loading webpages.
  • Extensive Documentation
    The framework comes with extensive and well-detailed documentation, making it easier for developers to get started and effectively utilize components.
  • Responsive Design
    UIKit is designed with responsiveness in mind, offering a sleek user experience across different screen sizes and devices.
  • Customization
    UIKit allows for deep customization through its LESS and SCSS files, enabling developers to modify the framework according to their needs.
  • Active Community
    There is an active community which leads to consistent updates and a wealth of shared resources and plugins.

Possible disadvantages of UIKit

  • Learning Curve
    For beginners, UIKit can be complex and might require a learning curve to become proficient in its use.
  • Limited Third-Party Integrations
    Compared to more mature frameworks like Bootstrap, UIKit may offer fewer third-party integrations and plugins.
  • Potential Overhead
    Including too many unnecessary components can add to the overhead, resulting in slower load times if not managed properly.
  • Inconsistencies Across Browsers
    Occasional inconsistencies may be noted across different browsers, which may require additional effort to resolve.
  • Less Recognition
    UIKit is not as commonly recognized as some other frameworks, which may lead to challenges in finding developers experienced with it.

Semantic UI features and specs

  • Intuitive Class Names
    Semantic UI uses human-readable class names that describe their purpose, making it easy to understand and write code without consulting documentation frequently.
  • Customizability
    Semantic UI allows for deep customizability with its theming, letting developers adjust the default designs to match specific project requirements.
  • Comprehensive Components
    Semantic UI provides a wide range of pre-built components like buttons, forms, and modals, which can significantly speed up development time.
  • Flexibility
    The framework offers flexibility in terms of its modular structure, enabling developers to import only the components they need.
  • Detailed Documentation
    Semantic UI has detailed and well-organized documentation, which helps developers quickly resolve issues and understand how to use various features.

Possible disadvantages of Semantic UI

  • Large File Size
    The framework's comprehensive nature can lead to larger file sizes, which might affect the load times of web applications.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its intuitive naming conventions, the breadth of components and features can result in a steep learning curve for new developers.
  • Community Support
    Unlike more popular frameworks like Bootstrap, Semantic UI has a smaller community, which can mean fewer third-party plugins and community support.
  • Incomplete Integration
    Some integrations with newer JavaScript frameworks such as React or Vue might require extra effort or third-party libraries, given that Semantic UI is not natively designed for them.
  • Infrequent Updates
    The development and updates to Semantic UI have been less frequent compared to other UI frameworks, potentially leading to compatibility and security issues.

Analysis of UIKit

Overall verdict

  • Yes, UIKit is considered a good choice for web developers looking to build modern, responsive, and aesthetically pleasing applications with a focus on customization and modularity.

Why this product is good

  • UIKit is a front-end framework that is well-regarded for its modularity, flexibility, and comprehensive set of components. It offers a consistent and clean design system, making it easy for developers to build responsive and engaging web interfaces. Additionally, UIKit provides customization options that allow developers to create unique designs while maintaining a cohesive look and feel. The framework includes a comprehensive documentation, which helps in ease of use and implementation.

Recommended for

    UIKit is recommended for developers who need a flexible and modular framework for building user interfaces, especially those who prefer a clean design system and extensive component library. It is suitable for beginners due to its comprehensible documentation and also for experienced developers looking to streamline their workflow with a reliable front-end framework.

Analysis of Semantic UI

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Semantic UI is a good choice for developers who prefer a semantic, intuitive approach to building web applications. However, as with any framework, it may not be suitable for every project, particularly those that require lightweight or minimal front-end code.

Why this product is good

  • Semantic UI offers a human-friendly HTML structure, making it easier for developers to read and maintain their code.
  • It provides a wide range of UI components that can be easily customized to fit the design requirements.
  • The framework follows a semantic class naming convention, which enhances the readability and understanding of the code base.
  • Semantic UI has a strong community support and comprehensive documentation, which helps in quickly resolving any development issues.

Recommended for

  • Developers seeking a framework with a strong focus on semantics and clarity in code.
  • Projects that require a wide array of customizable UI components.
  • Teams that value a structured and consistent approach to front-end development.
  • Applications where ease of maintenance and readability of HTML are priorities.

UIKit videos

Should I Learn SwiftUI instead of UIKit?

More videos:

  • Review - SwiftUI vs UIKit – Comparison of building the same app in each framework

Semantic UI videos

Semantic UI In 60 Minutes

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to UIKit and Semantic UI)
Design Tools
49 49%
51% 51
CSS Framework
52 52%
48% 48
Developer Tools
46 46%
54% 54
Development Tools
48 48%
52% 52

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare UIKit and Semantic UI

UIKit Reviews

22 Best Bootstrap Alternatives & What Each Is Best For
UIkit includes an extensive collection of HTML, CSS, and JS components, all easy to use and customizable. Features include a responsive grid system, navigation components, form elements, and more. Though UIkit does not offer explicit integrations, its modular nature means it can be easily incorporated into many different web development workflows and tools.
Source: thectoclub.com
15 Top Bootstrap Alternatives For Frontend Developers in 2024
One of the advantages of UIKit is that it offers a wide range of UI components, even more than Bootstrap. It also includes unique components like Totop, Thumbnav, and more. Considering its rich set of resources, UIKit can be regarded as an ideal alternative to Bootstrap.
Source: coursesity.com
Top 10 Best CSS Frameworks for Front-End Developers in 2022
UI Kit has a comprehensive collection of CSS, HTML, and JS components. It is modular and lightweight. Used for iOS application development, UIKit is one of the bestfront-end CSS frameworks.
Source: hackr.io
10 of the Best Bootstrap Alternatives
UIKit offers an easy approach to developing sophisticated web interfaces. It’s a modular front-end framework that can be used with HTML or JavaScript. With this structure, you may quickly create your web layouts with ease. This structure is perfect for laying out your website. When compared to Bootstrap, this framework offers more UI components. It also includes oddity parts...
Best CSS Frameworks in 2019
Our fourth framework to consider is UIkit. UIkit is “a lightweight and modular front-end framework for developing fast and powerful web interfaces” (UIkit). The framework comes with built-in animations, is customizable and has out-of-the-box designs.

Semantic UI Reviews

22 Best Bootstrap Alternatives & What Each Is Best For
I chose Semantic UI because of its intuitive and accessible approach to design. Its use of human-friendly HTML sets it apart from many other frameworks, making it a more natural choice for developers prioritizing user-friendly designs. From my perspective, Semantic UI is the best tool for creating websites and applications that are easy for both developers and end users to...
Source: thectoclub.com
10 Best Free React UI Libraries in 2023
The styling of Semantic UI React is based on the Semantic UI theme and it's also free from jQuery. Apart from that, there are other useful features like augmentation, shorthand props, auto controlled state, etc.
11 Best Material UI Alternatives
Semantic UI supports theming and customization, allowing developers to customize the appearance of their UI components to align with their project’s branding. With its intuitive syntax and detailed documentation, Semantic UI is a valuable tool for designing and developing modern web interfaces.
Source: www.uxpin.com
Top 10 Best CSS Frameworks for Front-End Developers in 2022
If you’re just starting out with CSS and UI, go for Tacit, Pure, or Skeleton. However, to build more complex elements, you’ll need a more inclusive framework like Foundation, Tailwind, or Bootstrap. You can get an easy learning curve through Bulma or Semantic UI.
Source: hackr.io
15 Best CSS Frameworks: Professional Bootstrap and Foundation Alternatives
If you exclude the fact that Semantic UI doesn’t have the utility classes Bootstrap offers, it is a comprehensive CSS framework that you should try. The best Semantic feature allows you to write HTML code without using BEM methodologies.

Social recommendations and mentions

UIKit might be a bit more popular than Semantic UI. We know about 22 links to it since March 2021 and only 19 links to Semantic UI. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

UIKit mentions (22)

  • 100+ Must-Have Web Development Resources
    UIkit: A lightweight and modular front-end framework. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Building UIs with Franken UI, a Shadcn alternative
    Franken UI is compatible with UIkit 3 and can work as a standalone CSS framework but can be integrated with Tailwind CSS for faster styling and customization. The design of Franken UI is influenced by shadcn/ui. It aims to provide a solution to developers who are not comfortable using React, Vue, or Svelte by leveraging UIkit for JavaScript and accessibility. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • SwiftUI vs. UIKit: What is the best choice for building an iOS user interface in 2024?
    As an iOS engineer, you've likely encountered SwiftUI and UIkit, two popular tools for building iOS user interfaces. SwiftUI is the new cool kid on the block, providing a clean way to build iOS screens, while UIkit is the older and more traditional way to build screens for iOS. SwiftUI uses a declarative style where you describe how the UI should look, similar to Jetpack Compose in Android. UIkit, on the other... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • How To Build a Web Application with HTMX and Go
    All that's left is adding a little style. I won't claim to be a frontend engineer or a UI designer, so I just used UIKit to easily add modern-looking style to the HTML table and buttons. As mentioned throughout the article, the CSS classes and other small details are excluded since they are not directly relevant to the tutorial. See the full example on GitHub to try running it for yourself. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • On the search for a truly "good" UI framework.
    Can try UIKIT out if you're looking around, I've used it solely for some quick slider stuff in certain projects and use it fully in others. The docs are pretty good and they have a discord community that's fairly active. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Semantic UI mentions (19)

  • 100+ Must-Have Web Development Resources
    Semantic UI: A fully semantic front-end development framework. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Ant Design – the second most popular React UI framework
    Semantic UI[1] was one I used to use, both the plain CSS one as well as the React version of the library. Version 3.0 is coming (eventually), which has left it a bit outdated for a while, but it's still a solid UI library imho. I have been switching away to Tailwind. [1]: https://semantic-ui.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Ask HN: I'm bad at design, which stops me from finishing side projects. Advice?
    What stack are you using? I personally recommend utilizing readily available components: https://ui.shadcn.com/ https://mui.com/ https://semantic-ui.com/ etc.. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • I hate CSS: how can I build UIs?
    Are you cool with JS frameworks? If so, you can use a higher level of abstraction that takes care of the CSS for you. If you just want to mock something up, you can use a pre-built UI system / component framework and just put together UIs declaratively, without having to worry about the underlying CSS or HTML at all. Examples include https://mui.com/ and https://chakra-ui.com/ and https://ant.design/ Really easy... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Software Design Document - Lite
    Honestly you should build a webpage and use a UI library if you want markdown with some extra pop. Check out semantic ui. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing UIKit and Semantic UI, you can also consider the following products

Bootstrap - Simple and flexible HTML, CSS, and JS for popular UI components and interactions

Materialize CSS - A modern responsive front-end framework based on Material Design

Foundation - The most advanced responsive front-end framework in the world

Bulma - Bulma is an open source CSS framework based on Flexbox and built with Sass. It's 100% responsive, fully modular, and available for free.

Tailwind CSS - A utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces.

Skeleton CSS - A Beautiful Boilerplate for Responsive, Mobile-Friendly Development